Toni Kroos has admitted that Mikel Arteta’s style of play has been very impressive; however, it has also made Arsenal quite dull to watch.
The Gunners’ game plan was all going so well until Cristhian Mosquera fouled Khvicha Kavershetsia inside the area and conceded a penalty.
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Paris Saint-Germain are one of the best attacking teams in Europe, but they certainly met their match against Arsenal’s defence in the Champions League final.
The North London club only ended up losing the final in Budapest on penalties, and after the game, Kroos gave his thoughts on their style of play.
Toni Kroos questions Arsenal’s style of play vs PSG
Toni Kroos has revealed that he would like to see Arsenal playing with a bit more adventure, given the quality of their attacking players.
Speaking to Luppen TV, Kroos said: “You can also debate Arsenal’s style of play, because I think they have the players to play differently, too.
“Maybe not in the final against Paris, who are even better technically, but in general, I would have liked Arsenal at times to play a bit differently without leaving themselves exposed or taking too many risks.
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“I understand the approach, but I do think they have the footballing quality to be a bit more offensive or vary their style, especially with players like Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Eze and Madueke. I think they do have the technical quality for that, particularly going forward.”
Question marks have been raised as to whether it was a case of a lack of individual quality in attack to keep the ball, or whether it was due to Arteta’s instructions.
Toni Kroos was so impressed by Arsenal’s defence
The former German international also admitted that after they became Premier League champions, it’s hard to criticise Mikel Arteta’s style
At the end of the day, Arsenal’s defence managed to keep PSG at bay for pretty much 120 minutes, which is no mean feat to say the least.
“But it’s absolutely fine, success proves them right. To win the league in England after so many years, and to become champions in England at all with such a concentration of top teams, you have to find a way. And this was Arsenal’s way of becoming champions this year,” he added.
“Other teams came more from a footballing approach, but simply weren’t good enough defensively, whereas Arsenal were consistent in that area, and that’s why they became champions.
“So we’re only talking about nuances here. Arsenal aren’t, let’s say… Stoke City, where you say, ‘We have to play this way because we don’t have the quality to do anything else’.
“As a spectator, I may not have liked it, and I thought it was a really long game, and of course, it became even longer.
“But if you look at it now from Arsenal’s point of view, you have to say that they defended this team from Paris almost to perfection and that for over 120 minutes.
“So that it is impressive in an unattractive way, they were able to do that, because no team has managed to defend against Paris this year.”
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